Real Estate

Big Fat Deal: $4.5 million for a surfer shack near Kits that Norman Bates would love to rent

By Fiona Morrow /














Each week, BCBusiness takes you inside one of the most outrageously upmarket real estate offerings in the province

Address: 2027 York Avenue, Vancouver
Price: $4,500,000
MLS: R2039911
 
The skinny: Two bedroom, one bathroom, 1800 square foot house in Kitsilano.
 
The bling: Yes, that’s right: $4.5M for 1800 square feet. We must be talking something really special, right. Well, in the alternative reality of the new meaning of Vancouver special, then maybe. This is a gold-plated, ka-ching ka-ching, unlimited cash cow. What in other civilizations would be cast as a pathetic little one-storey slum dwelling, in Vancouver (land of the free, for those who can pay) is considered a prime opportunity. What? You still can’t see it? Listen, even in its unfit-for-rodents “renovated” state, this pokey little place apparently garners a monthly rent of $2,500. That helpful regular—and not in the least unreasonable in a city with no vacancies—stipend should easily keep you in cufflinks and coiffure while your plans to erect something more than your ego make their way through City Hall. Because, yes, it’s so close to Kits Point, you can almost taste the salty air. Zoning, and a 50 foot-wide lot, adds up to a project of potentially 8,555 square feet in an area where wall-to-wall marble and Miele will bring home (according to the listing agent, at least) more than $1,000 per square foot. You do the math.
 
The hidden extras: You get to annoy the neighbours so much by building up and out, you could find yourself being able to purchase all their unrealized potential while you’re at it. Altogether now: KA-CHING!